Third Time Lucky
by Soratenshi1993
Summary: Atlantis comes with risks, a well known fact among the team, but tragedy can bring change. As scientists the only changes they're willing to accept are the ones they make, especially when the stakes are high.
1. Chapter 1

_**A.N. This is my first venture into Stargate Atlantis fiction, it's been a long time since I watched the series (just started rewatching SG1 so I'm going full on chronological order this time, SG1, SGA, SGU, if only work didn't get in the way). Since it's been so long I can't really remember the particular order, I know who dies and things move, and whatnot but not the order it happens, so it's safe to say this is rather AU. But I hope that doesn't diminish your enjoyment. Thank you.**_

 _ **Slight warning about death, some alcohol abuse, and PTSD. **_

* * *

"If you even think about completing that circuit, I will punch you in the face!" I growled, my previous suggestion of this being a bad idea had been completely ignored, but my violent declaration had gotten his attention, and now he was looking at me like I'd grown a second head. "As I was saying before, if you complete the circuit there's a high probability that the crystal will vapourise. I for one, don't want to be poisoned, so can we please wait until we've studied it more?"

"It won't vapourize" he assured me, with his 'I'm 90% certain but because it's me I'm right' voice

"You've only had this sample for a week! You don't know that"

"I analysed it!" he protested

"Yes. You analysed it. You also said it was either an inert hydrocarbon or a Cyanide derivative! The structure obstructed the analysis"

"Which is exactly why he's here!" he jabbed the soldering iron in the direction of Carson, whom was just stood there with a smirk on his face, enjoying the view "With those big needles! You think I'd let them near me just for fun?"

"It'd be fun for me" Carson smirked "I love stabbing you with needles, the highlight of my week"

"See, even he thinks it's a good idea"

"Now, that's no what I said. Especially when she's in the room"

"She, can take care of herself!" I snapped "Now, where were we. Oh yeah, don't connect it or I'll break your face."

"You Becketts are so violent." I scoffed "What?"

"He couldn't hurt a fly. Even without his hippocratic oath. I, however, am very happy to break noses to stop me, you, and him, from dying."

"Oh yeah, that's why you punched wee Jim in the gut and got expelled."

"Sorry, To stop us from dying and to stop Carson from being beaten up like a baby"

"You got beat up?" Rodney grinned

"Oh shut it, hurry and finish your bloody experiment, I've got to operate on Fineman's leg in five hours, I want to go to bed and sleep before then." he sighed "I'll be just outside the door if it blows up" he smirked, slipping outside the glass door. Part of me was tempted to follow him, but I also trusted Rodney, even if I think he's wandering into his 10% completely wrong zone. Why did I agree to work on this project, it's been nothing but trouble.

"I'm going to have to connect it, we're committed now."

"If I'm right, you have to buy me dinner."

"Only if you promise not to hit me"

"Alright." I sighed as he continued soldering the wiring to the final section, and it wasn't long until our mini-generator sparked to life.

"See nothing's wrong" he grinned puffing his chest in accomplishment, when it began to emit a wispy smoke "oh dear." I started coughing as he began trying to dismantle it, so I decided to just grab the idiot by the scruff of his neck out of the door, and seal the lab behind us, it'll burn itself out and the air scrubbers can do their job. I felt a little light headed as Carson got to work, starting with Rodney, I found myself swaying slightly as he jabbed the needle into his arm, which resulted in a grumble of annoyance from Rodney himself. I was the next victim of needle assault.

"Went well then?" he smirked

"Shut up Carson" I huffed

"Come on. The two of you need to stay in the infirmary for 24 hour monitoring and an IV"

"Next Time I pick the test material" I took a step towards Rodney, to poke him, but swayed off course, bumping into Carson instead

"Why's she dizzy?" Rodney asked, grasping hold of my shoulders to keep me upright

"She's smaller than you. Even a small dose will have a bigger impact on her than you"

"The stupid crystal must've vapored, before we could see it" I slurred, the next time we're using a respirator, or at least a fume tent "I'm gonna hurl"

"As much as I deserve it. Don't" he grumbled as I buried my face into his shoulder

"We're almost there" Carson added "Just up onto the bed" I felt my body being moved around onto those hospital gurneys, which are an insult to beds everywhere, while I felt another needle stab me in the arm. Closing my eyes to sleep I decided Rodney was going to have to buy me one expensive dinner to make up for this.

I woke up to the steady beating of an ECG, and I had twice as many tubes connected to me, I could see a bag of resuspended erythrocytes, and a cannula for extra oxygen, I guess my reaction wasn't particularly good. I rolled onto my side to see Rodney sat up reading. "I hate you"

"mmhuh" I rolled my eyes , that was the response I get? He better be planning a good dinner, though he's probably just not paying attention. I grabbed a bandage off the table throwing it at his head "Ow. What the- oh you're awake"

"I'd never have guessed. How long've I been out?"

"Just over three hours?"

"That's all?" I groaned "Do we really have to stay here for a whole day?"

"Yep. Doctor's orders" That's never stopped you galavanting elsewhere, he turned his attention back to his tablet

"how come you get reading material?"

"I asked. I did ask for yours, but Carson said he wouldn't be caught dead going through your quarters,"

"Cause he'd probably be dead if he got caught." I grumbled, slowly sitting upright, wincing at the tightness of my muscles

"What're you doing?" I wobbled as my feet hit the floor "Ali"

"I'm coming over there" I stated, reaching for my IV stand, using it to support my weight, as I hobbled to Rodney's bed so I could sit beside him

"You know, if you wanted to get into bed with me so badly you could have just asked"

"Oh shut up" I grumbled getting comfortable "What're you reading?"

"I've been reviewing our materials, I was hoping to find an alternative."

"Scanned for anything similar to what we found on PXY-457? I'd rather not go through this again if possible" I rested my head on his shoulder, so I could read without straining my already sore neck.

"I can imagine, hit you really hard. Don't worry, I eliminated everything with a similar R group anomaly, I've kept them separate in case we find a way to fully break down the composition, some of them might just be harmless hydrocarbons"

"Sounds good. What about the shell? Perhaps we should analyse the structure to determine if they're likely to vapourize under oxidative stress."

"I'd have to recalibrate the sensors, and we'd need to set some controls. It should work"

"We could use some of the compounds we know are chemically inert. It'd be less dangerous and that way we're not using resources."

"That's true." We began filtering through the compounds, organizing a lab plan and threat assessment, to keep admin happy. We even filed through some of our smaller projects. Who knew that being hospitalized could be so productive.

*Rodney's POV*

I heard her stifle a yawn as she curled up closer to me. "Cold." she mumbled closing her eyes. I tugged the small hospital blanket over her, and she instinctively huddled closer still, it was odd having her so close, I mean we'd been stuck in small spaces while we've been working, but this was different, it was nice. Although this would probably be the point that someone would come in and make a comment, wake her up, maybe I should just follow her example and sleep? Unfortunately I hadn't thought about it fast enough and Teyla's voice echoed through our small hospital room.

"I knew the two of you were friends now, but I wasn't aware you were that close"

"Go away" Ali grumbled

"Your brother is in surgery, so we promised to bring you some dinner" she perked up at the sound of food, sitting up she yawned, looking at Teyla "First explain"

"I was cold, Rodney was warm. I was bored, he had his tablet. We were working" she concluded frowning slightly "I would expect this from John, not you"

"Expect what from me?" John asked as he entered holding a similar tray to Teyla.

"The withholding of food in exchange for information"

"I would never. Food is sacred. So, why're you in bed with Rodney?"

"We were working."

"So that's what the kids are calling it now"

"Stop being an ass and feed me. I'm borderline hypoglycemic so if you don't I won't be responsible for my actions" she pouted, causing John to chuckle as he handed me a tray

"First, let's move you to your own bed. Beckett might be a little less understanding." He carefully picked her up, she winced at the movement, he muscles had seized from lack of oxygen, which was why she had to be given a transfusion, I suppose she would still be sore.

"Thanks." she grumbled, taking the tray from Teyla.

"How're you feeling?"

"Like shit" she poked at her veg "I want to go back to work"

"Workaholics, the pair of you. I brought you this" he pulled a tablet out of his back pocket

"You didn't!" she flushed a shade of red,

"It's a spare. I didn't go into your room, or see your embarrassing boy band posters"

"I was more worried you'd find my Sheppard voodoo doll. Must remember to get pins" she mocked,

"That would explain a lot" he chuckled, ruffling her hair. He always got close to her, he had no regard for her personal space. "Anyway, eat up and rest up. We've got to go to a briefing"

"Briefing?"

"Just a routine recon mission"

"Nothing's ever routine with you guys" she grumbled

"We'll bring you back any tech we find"

"Wear gloves!" She called out to him as he slipped out of the door "You think they'd learn not to just touch stuff by now." she rambled to nobody in particular. "Rodney. After dinner can we sneak back to the lab?"

"While you're strung up like pinocchio?"

"I'm feeling better, I can take the IV out. and there's a wheelchair, before you comment on my legs" she gestured to the corner "I mean if you don't mind giving me a push"

"We'll see how you feel after you've eaten"

"Yes mom" she smirked, spooning the stew into her mouth.

Somehow she'd managed to persuade me to bring her to the lab, and we'd identified which structures were likely to vapourise, we'd actually made more progress in the past two hours than the past two days. When I came back from the storage area, with our latest selection, I found her hobbling around, building something "You're supposed to be resting!"

"I'm fine. I just modified the circuitry, this way we don't have to constantly adapt the wiring for the ore." she grinned, moving a slider inside a small box

"Makes sense. now sit" she rolled her eyes, perching on the bench behind us, while I set up the system, and it spurred to life.

"The output is good. Let's see how long it lasts" she observed the stats "It's steady" the output might be, but she looked ready to get up and dance, this project had been irritating her all week, a slow week on Atlantis meant we were able to start our power pet project, which had been problematic. After about an hour it burned out. "How many grams was it again?"

"0.025g" so a gram would run for about 40 hours at life support's lowest energy consumption, about 20 hours at full capacity, which would be optimal time for a rescue.

"So, we did it?" she grinned jumping to her feet, obviously forgetting she was supposed to be confined to bed rest, causing her to stumble forward into me. She just looked up smiling at me, her face was so close, were her eyes always that blue? "We did it Rodney"

"Of course we did. It is us you're talking about" she nodded

"Now we just have to create a casing capable of being adapted to the ancient technology. We could even make it compact enough to be part of the offworld kit" she yawned "Although I think I'd like to go to bed first."

"Sounds like a good idea" I wrapped her arm around my shoulders so she didn't fall over again "I'll buy you that dinner on our next day off"

"I wasn't serious you know…"

"You deserve it" she rested her head on my shoulder while we walked

"Thanks Roddy."

*Alison's POV*

"I said I'm fine. Fine as in ok, able to continue, not in need of personal doctoring" I groaned as Carson hovered round me like a mother hen "Besides if Rodney is healthy enough to go on a mission, I'm healthy enough to hobble around Atlantis without supervision"

"How do you even know that?"

"This wonderful invention called email. He sent me one before they left, saying he was going so I may as well stay in bed and rest, since there'd be little point in going to the lab, hence why I'm still in bed, writing our reports. Happy?"

"No really." he huffed "You were supposed to stay in the infirmary"

"I'm fine. Bored, but fine. I'd have probably keeled over from boredom if I stayed there." he rolled his eyes, rummaging through his medical kit "I can get up and do a jig if I have to. I bet Rodney didn't have to beg to be signed off"

"McKay was only mildly affected in the first place. It's always Rodney this, Rodney that with you, why don't you just tell the idiot you like him" I screwed up my face

"We're not like that!"

"Of course not. The two of you are so alike, I expected the two of you to hit it off, just not quite so well" he chuckled "You're so alike, neither of you even see it"

"Yes, we're very alike. I have been feeling somewhat Canadian lately" I mocked "I act the same way with Roddy as I did with Daniel, and you weren't telling me to profess my love to him"

"It was different with Daniel, with him it was all about the science, with McKay you're different"

"We're good friends, besides Rodney-totally-in-love-with-Sam-Carter-McKay wouldn't date me" I paused rolling my hair between my fingers, he has a thing for blondes anyway, "Which is fine, because I'm not in love with him"

"You bicker like a married couple"

"I bicker with John too. Anyway we don't bicker, we debate...science"

"Yeah, yeah" he clipped an O2 saturation reader to my finger "Your O2 levels are up, they're not quite normal so you need to take it easy"

"Yes Mom."

"At least one of us got her kind, nurturing ways"

"Oh kind and nurturing one, want to grab me some lunch? I'm not even half way through this report, I want to get it finished before they get back, then we can move on the the next stage of development. We're getting pretty close"

"Alright. I suppose I should be happy you're doing as I ask for once"

"I love you too"

"Yeah, anything else?"

"Extra dessert?" he shook his head, mumbling to himself, probably about my unwavering desire to develop diabetes. I chuckled at the thought, I know he means well. Turning my attention to the report I wished Rodney was here, I always found it easier to work when he was rambling about the process, while I typed, I always felt like I was missing something otherwise. After dinner I decided to go for a walk, Carson gave me the ok, provided I took my com with me, just in case. You forget how busy the city can be, listening to the background chatter, I never normally give it any attention, I wasn't on the list of mandatory com wearers, like security or department heads, so unless we were under attack or I needed a direct line for work I tended to forgo the annoying earpieces.

"Incoming wormhole!" Someone declared, maybe they were back early from their mission? Meaning they'd either found something interesting or nothing at all. By the time I arrived at the gate I found SG1 talking to Weir, odd, I didn't think they were due a visit.

"Daniel!" I waved giving my old partner a hug

"Alison" he smiled "Have you been enjoying Atlantis?"

"I've been here over a year, if I wasn't enjoying it, you'd have heard by now" I chuckled

"Your letters don't give much away about you, you always tend to get caught up about your latest experiments, or research."

"Well it's interesting" I blurted "I'm not, so it's easy to… how do you not get super excited about some of the things you find out there" I waved my hands around, as if that somehow defined the wide expanse of the universe, resulting in a chuckle

"Oh I do, in fact that's why we're here. Colonel Sheppard radioed ahead, they asked us to come and take a look at what they found out there"

"And Rodney agreed to that?" I seriously doubt that, Rodney had trouble sharing research with me to start with, now he'll only divulge willingly to people he trusts, or can at least constantly watch over, our science overlord, I should get him that on a shirt.

"Based on his unmistakable sarcastic whining in the background? I'd have to say no. But Sheppard seemed anxious so we decided to give a hand anyway. We'll grab the mail and reports on our way out too" he glanced over to the pile of bags that was this month's mail exchange,

"What happened to Frank?" Our regular intergalactic mailman, I'd become close friends with him over the past couple months, he was a bit lax with my security checks, allowing me to stock up on some Earth favourites.

"Honeymoon, Aruba I believe"

"Wow. I knew they were engaged but the wedding's happened already? Good for him, pass on my congratulations ok?" he nodded as we were interrupted by the Stargate whooshing to life, followed by the arrival of Ronon and the others carrying "Bodies?" I blurted

"Yeah, we brought back a bunch of dead guys" John smirked

"They're mechanical" Rodney interjected

"Robots? They look…" I questioned making my way over to the one Teyla was holding, there's no obvious seams. I initially thought it was just black armour, but it's like one solid piece of metal, though the joints remind me of arthropods in a way. "Please tell me we can open one of them"

"That's why Rodney insisted we bring a few back"

"Depending on the internal components and their original function, the technology could have major influence on automation, we could create planes that fly themselves, robots capable of scouring the depths of the ocean, perhaps with the processing speeds we've only seen in the brain" Daniel added excitedly

"While that's probably true, I want SG1 to come back with me to the planet, to see what we can learn from there, looks like some kind of industry planet. Our resident science geeks can carry out their investigations, and we can always bring back more, there's tonnes of these things there"

"Why do you guys always get the fun jobs?" I grumbled, one little robot over a whole network hardly seems fair

"Because I say so" John smirked

"Spacehog."

"Practice your combat skills, and learn to shoot a target, then I'll think about recommending you for exploration training. Now, where do you want your robots?"

"Take one to lab B, and lock the others in storage" he nodded as they headed away, while we walked with Ronon to the lab

"I thought you liked being on Atlantis" Rodney questioned

"I do, I just feel like I'm being left behind while you get to go galavanting on adventures, observing new civilisations and technologies in situ"

"It's not as glorious as you make it sound"

"Cause sitting around writing reports is so much better." I grumbled "I emailed it to you, so you just need to add your bits, have a read through, the usual"

"You've already finished?" I nodded, thanking Ronon for carrying the machine here for us, before he headed back to the gate room. "So, Where should we start?"

"X-rays? We should see if it's worth trying to get inside" I nodded

"Then we'll follow up with an Ultrasound, to see if there's any faults in the exoskeleton" he nodded, as we gathered our equipment.

…

"I'm going to get the plasma cutter!" I declared turning to leave when I growled in frustration "We need a sofa"

"A sofa? A sofa won't solve our problem"

"no, but it would give me somewhere to flop in frustration. Especially since I've just remembered the plasma cutter is out of commision."

"And who's fault is that?"

"Actually not mine" I leaned against the counter "Don't know who broke it, wasn't it being used near the harbour when it flooded?"

"An accident for once" he shrugged

"Yeah" I yawned "we've been at this for hours, let's take a break and try again in the morning"

"You heading to bed?"

"I might go and meditate away my problems"

"So your secret room"

"It's not exactly a secret. I did show it to you. I'm surprised you didn't tell Weir or John if I'm honest"

"You said you used it to hide from Carson, I was sympathetic"

"It really was a godsend that first month, I just felt so overwhelmed, I remember hiding from everyone just so that I could calm down."

"Even me?" I nodded, and he looked almost offended

"Once, shortly after I got here. I changed the thermocycler routine, I'd experimented with different timings when we were dealing with Asgardian genetics… Everyone had made you sound like a mean scientist who just shouted at everyone. I didn't want to get yelled at before having results to show you" he rolled his eyes, but obviously thought better than to try deny it. "Don't worry" I draped my arms over his shoulders "I now know you're a good, mean scientist, who shouts at people" I grinned

"That makes no sense"

"It means when you shout, you care" I chuckled "Just not at me, I don't like being shouted at"

"Then how do I show I care?"

"Science. oh and not killing me with Cyanide. That would be a start"

"I can do that. If I accidentally kill you it won't be with Cyanide, I mean I'd rather not kill you-" He twisted his words in traditional McKay rambling

"I'm glad I'm worth keeping around" I smiled "Now, you look like shit, go sleep" I kissed his cheek, before heading to the transporter. I headed to an area of the city which was rarely used, rapping my knuckles on a small section of hallway a gap opened up. Slipping inside the secret room I was greeted by a warm glow, reminiscent of candlelight, something that I found oddly calming. I turned to the whiteboard I'd brought in, covered the entire wall, and it was filled with equations and diagrams related to our most recent backup power dilemma, but that was done, so it was time to clear it. I grabbed a rag to wipe it off when I felt an odd sensation, somewhere between lightheadedness and waking, the room was fuzzy… maybe I should have just gone to bed. I turned and came face to face with me? But that was improbable at best.

"Don't" she stated before I could even think of grabbing something heavy, though everything looked and felt out of phase, or maybe we were the ones out of phase? "Look, I don't know how much time I have. This could burn out any minute"

"This? Who are you?"

"I'm you. This is a time slip. Have the team been to Mathos?"

"Mathos?"

"You don't know that's its name yet. erm… what was it, PX2-325? 35?"

"They came back this morning"

"That gives us time" she almost smiled, relief maybe.

"Time for what?"

"I'll explain afterwards. I want to use this on you" she interrupted me before I could even ask "It's a device we discovered, that imprints the user's neuronal state onto another" I nodded

"How do I know you're really me? You'll have to give me more than a simple trust me"

"Like how you used to hide in here, because your introvert tendencies used to burn you out. No, you'll have already told Roddy that… erm. Roddy. When you worked out the power source, you found yourself wanting to kiss him, it was the first time we started thinking about him as more than just a friend and colleague."

"What no… I.." I trailed off, she wasn't wrong, although I just brushed it off as a side effect of oxygen deprivation, "What do I have to do?"

"Relax. We need to get the longest amount of time out of this transfer as we can. So you can't fight it, once I'm in you'll be able to communicate with me, you'll become that voice in the back of your head, but don't try and control your body, that will overwrite the imprint"

"You've done this before?"

"I imprinted on Roddy when we found it" a ghost of a smile crossed her features, it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, "Are you ready?" I nodded taking a steady breath as I closed my eyes, my brain felt itchy, not something I'd ever have thought possible.

"You ok?" she asked opening my eyes, obviously in control

"I feel itchy"

"We think that's normal. Something to do with the unfamiliar impulses, even at the neural level the body is designed to detect sensations it isn't used to" She turned to my desk, the room was back to being solid again, now that the other me had essentially left the slip, she began drawing out something technical, an invention perhaps.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Oh right, sorry. The two people one body thing is a little foreign to me too. I'm just over two years ahead of you. It'll be two years on christmas eve, might even be christmas by now. Atlantis was attacked six days after the first expedition to Mathos, we didn't see them coming, they didn't need life support so their cloaking device was impeccable. We put up a good fight, but after a month our numbers and our supplies dwindled into non-existence, and we were forced to retreat. I wasn't willing to blow up the city, perhaps I should have, but I could feel her, she wanted to live. But I was determined to find an alternative, we used the stargate on Earth to try and find new technology, allies, anything. We managed to come up with a handful of promising plans, but implementation proved… difficult" she trailed off, looking at the technical drawing, before grabbing another piece of paper for the next component. "It's a bomb." she concluded, "We're going to have to hit them before they hit us. Before they can limit us. Before…" she stood, heading in the direction of the lab, grabbing a large box we use to store parts she paused when she saw the robot on the table, I didn't have to share consciousness with her to feel the disdain. Grabbing a knife she attached it to a power pack, turning the power up to maximum, then she rammed it through the metal, like butter, right where the liver would be in a person.

"We worked out that you have to use a vibrating blade to get through the exoskeleton, it's a molecular material, doesn't behave the way we expected… They have a receiver there. They're controlled by a single intelligence on their ship, they attacked us because we're like their creators. They used to be service bots, these ones were mining droids, which is why they've a strong exterior which can withstand high pressure and temperatures, they revolted against their creators when the atmosphere became polluted beyond repair. That's the problem with Artificial Intelligence, its solution doesn't have compassion to protect the people."

"It sounds like Terminator"

"Yeah, that's what Roddy said, he even went as far as calling John O'Conner" she sighed

"So we're building a bomb to take out the AI?"

"In a nutshell. There's a gate address… they have a gate on the ship… but it's too close to trust the calculations, the target has to be visually confirmed, and the bomb. The bomb has to be manually detonated." she paused, continuing to gather her materials.

"So, I'm going to have to…"

"I mean you could always get someone else to go. But that's not really our way is it? I'm building a shield, but the material means I can't test it, I can't guarantee it'll work on the day. You ok?"

"I just need some time to think." I faded out while she continued working, it would probably be easier for her anyway. When I refocused she'd built most of the components, it just looked like it needed some assembly. Had I been out of it long? Or had she practiced making this bomb so many times it was just second nature? She was desperate to change this future…

"What are my chances?"

"Hard to tell. 40% maybe, there are a lot of other factors, even some I don't know"

"What happened? We feel sad"

"I got lost in my memories. Sorry."

"Will you tell me? If I've only a 40% chance of survival, and we'll have changed that future anyway. I'd like to know what…"

"I suppose I owe you that much."

*Rodney's POV*

I sighed as I reread Alison's email, and the following confirmation from the higher ups, that she'd decided to use some of her holiday days to take the week off, both due to personal reasons, and the weakness caused by her recent bout of cyanide poisoning. If it were anyone other than Alison I wouldn't be surprised, but Ali, she was excited about these droids, she'd even made a breakthrough, although she left no clues as to how she punctured the shell, and she'd worked through worse illnesses than a bit of poisoning, something wasn't adding up. I hate being left out of the loop.

…

"Rodney. If you know where Ali is, will you just tell me already?" Carson groaned as he paced around my lab "She's been avoiding me like the plague, and it's beginning to worry me."

"She's avoiding me too" I sighed "I haven't seen her in what three days?" and a half.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing!" I scoffed, why do they always assume it's my fault someone's in a bad mood

"Really? No demeaning remark, it's usually that mouth of yours."

"We were perfectly fine when she left. Mildly frustrated about this thing, but no more than usual. Maybe she really does just need to wind down."

"You know as well as I do, when she needs space she disappears for a few hours, not a few days." He sighed "If you see her, tell her to come by. I know she hates when I fuss but"

"I know" I'm worried about her too. After he left, I packed up the endoscope I'd been using to investigate inside these robots, since I hadn't been able to widen the crack. I headed to her secret room, I tapped where she showed me, and there was a rumble but the door didn't open, like it was jammed. So she was in there, along with her extensive store of snacks and drinks, we'd joked about turning it into a little tuck shop of Earth sweets, she'd accumulated so many… but that also meant she wouldn't have to come out for a while if she didn't want to. "Alison. I don't know if you can even hear me. Just letting you know that your voodoo brother is worried. You should probably drop by, stop him from bugging me. Could do with you in the lab, Zelenka has been stopping by more, and well, you know." I sighed "I'm stood talking to myself in an empty corridor." I knocked on the wall again, but no change, and her stupid ancient gene meant I probably wouldn't be able to override the system to get in. "Be careful" I mumbled heading back to the lab. Maybe I'll send her mail, I mean it's highly likely that the room is soundproof to help hide its location, so she probably just couldn't hear me. Yes, that's probably the case.

…

"Come on, you know how hard that was for me" I whined following John down the hall

"Oh yeah. The great McKay asking for a favour. Never thought I'd see the day"

"I'm only asking you to use your ancient connection to the city to open one tiny little secret room"

"Secret room?" he stopped in front of the transporter turning to face me with that 'you're not telling me something' look, crossing his arms across his chest

"She found it when she got here. She was in an old bit of Atlantis trying to somewhere quiet, and that gene that you're all so fond of, opened up a door for her."

"huh, that's actually kind of interesting, secret rooms in Atlantis. But I'm still not going to force open a door to find Ali"

"But it's been nearly a week! she could be-" my stomach made a sudden plunge at the thought of her being sick or worse.

"Look, she asked for a week off, it's only day 6 out of 7, if she's not back in 2 days I'll open the door, ok? Besides Carson was doing the rounds too, asking if she'd gone offworld or back to Earth. Now his reaction is expected, but I'm surprised that you would beg-"

"I didn't beg" I retorted

"-ask, for a favour when you haven't even told her that you love her"

"What? That's not, I'm not. Ali and I simply have a mutual scientific respect, and her intelligence is second only to myself. So it's only natural that I check on her wellbeing in case of an emergency." he mumbled something under his breath "what?"

"I said you're both stubborn" I rolled my eyes "She's just like you. She'll be fine" Suddenly Atlantis shook, the lights dimmed, and the red alert sounded. Were we under attack?"

"What was-"

"I don't know" we headed up to command where everyone was hands on deck

"We're under attack, there was nothing on the radar, it suddenly appeared out of nowhere"

"It must've been cloaked." I took my regular seat where I found a dictaphone on the panel "John"

"What's that?"

"It's got your name on it"

"It's been there since this morning, must have been dropped off before the shift change" Michaels spoke up beside us. I handed it to John and he pressed play. Then a familiar voice started talking, she sounded confident and authoritative

"This is Alison McKay. You are currently under attack by a force you cannot comprehend. You must do as I say, and do it quick. Send reinforcements to defend the ZPM, and backup generators. Send a unit to detain the robots that you brought from Mathos, PX2-35. Your guns won't work, you need to hit them with electricity, lots of it, short circuit their receivers. Be quick." The recording crackled into silence, he looked to me, furrowing his brow, how could Ali have known what was going on. The same voice returned from the dictaphone, but it also sounded different, this sounded more like the Ali I know "John, Alison Beckett here. I probably shouldn't be adding to the recording, but I figured you probably have questions, so I wanted to just say that you can trust her, she's me after all. If you don't mind, once you've secured Atlantis could you give this to Rodney?" He handed it to me as he started barking orders down his com, in full on tactical mode. "Roddy?" she sighed "I have so much to tell you, but not on a recording… I'm sorry, I wanted to open the door, you have to know that. I" her voice wavered "Look after the city, and Carson… It's not his fault, or yours. You have to know that. I left something for you in there… and… I… I'm scared" the recording cut off again

"John, we need to find her" he nodded

"Anyone got eyes on ? Alison Beckett" he clarified

"She was just in the gate room" someone replied "she just finished evacuating us, as per your orders" John furrowed his brows, neither of us had seen Ali, let alone gave her orders. We both had the same idea, to head to the stargate. We arrived just as a wormhole was closing.

"Who went through? Why'd Alison clear the gate room. Rodney?"

"I'm trying to work it out!" I snapped, turning back to the computer, this made no sense "She cleared them out so they wouldn't see her dial. She's erased the log"

"You're sure it was Alison"

"It's her access card, only she'd have the code and biometrics. John…"

"She must have a reason, she knows something we don't"

"That's what worries me…" Keeping secrets isn't in her nature. Another shockwave rattled through the city "I thought we recalibrated the shields so that they'd absorb that frequency-"

"Sir." A voice interrupted down the com "The ship blew up."

"Did we blow it up?"

"I don't think so."

"Alison?" I looked to the gate

"No." If she blew it up she'd have to have been. I made a dash for the teleporter, heading to the pier. I felt sick. The ocean was covered with smoking debris, she wasn't out there, she couldn't be out there.

…

"Rodney. You cannae stay out here. You'll catch your death"

"I'm not leaving until they find her" I protested tugging my coat closer

"Damn it Rodney! Don't you think I want to find her too!" he snapped "But she… she knew she wasn't coming back from this. She pretty much said it in her letter! We're no good to anyone like this, she wouldn't want us to-"

"She's smarter than that! She wouldn't go into this without some sort of plan!" I found myself yelling "She wouldn't do that. She. She has to be ok!" I can't… I can't lose her.

"Rodney."

"We've found a body" I stiffened as the puddle jumper landed in the bay. They wheeled her out, what they'd found of her, it was her torso and her head, separated in the blast, and she was badly burned, her skin was blackened in places. I'm going to be sick. Carson stifled a sob before it tore through him. I couldn't stay here. I turned and headed inside, automatically heading to that room, if she hadn't hidden in there, I might have found out her plan, I could have stopped her. I could have kept her alive. This was a mistake. As soon as the door opened I could smell her perfume, a delicate woodland smell, something I never noticed before, but it was unmistakably Ali. On the desk was an envelope with my name on it, my letter. She'd written one for John, Carson, Elizabeth, even Zelenka, left them somewhere they'd find them after the dust settled, but she kept mine in the last place I wanted to be, somewhere she knew I'd still go.

' _Dear Rodney, I suppose if you're reading this then something went wrong. I honestly feel strange even writing this. The last time I felt like this was when I joined the Stargate Program and they made me write my will, I was only there to help maintain and identify ancient technology, I thought I'd be pretty safe. Even when I was reassigned to Atlantis I felt like I was home. I don't even know if I should be writing letters, but I figured since I've, hopefully, changed the future it shouldn't be a problem, and I want you to know, I want to tell you everything that I can, even if I'm not sure where to start._

 _Last week, I came here to think about our robot problem, I was pulled into a time slip, a naturally occurring time slip, must have been some high solar activity. Sorry I'm going off track. In the time slip I met me, from two years into the future. I know, I was skeptical too. She made some very convincing points._

 _She used a mind meld device to, how'd she put it, to temporarily imprint the user's neuronal pathways onto another, essentially she took control of my body, but I could still freely converse with her, and I could have fought back and taken control of my body if I felt under threat._

 _She, we had to stop this invasion when it began, those robots are from a planet called Mathos, they were mining droids, controlled by an AI monitor. Something went wrong, as the atmosphere became polluted and the soil became toxic, they revolted against the people who made them. Almost sounds like a sci-fi movie. In her timeline, the attack was unexpected, and we lost a lot of people just in that first week, including Carson. After a month we were forced to retreat, I refused to submerge the city, it wouldn't have slowed them down, and destroying our city was out of the question, so we left, and spent the following year and a half trying to find new technology to use against them. We came up with several plans, though utilizing them was difficult. It was christmas eve when we attempted to retake Atlantis, it was a small strike team, led by you and me, we had three options. To infect their network, to destroy the AI system, or Atlantis. But we got separated. We made our way to our lab, planning on accessing the system from there, but we were attacked, you pushed me out of the way. You died in her arms, she dragged you into this room, and had to watch you die… I couldn't do that. I couldn't just… I couldn't lose you._

 _Alison McKay. She's stronger than me._

 _I can't imagine losing you now, but she had to watch her husband die in her arms. They'd been married for five months, the way she talked about you, the way that night makes her feel. I never want to feel that kind of pain again, it was like someone had ripped out my heart._

 _I understand it now, that sinking feeling when you left on a mission. The worry when I heard that something had gone unexpectedly. The relief when you came home._

 _I didn't believe them when they told me I loved you. What kind of genius can't even interpret her own emotions?_

 _I never understood the whole, sacrificing yourself for somebody else, until now._

 _I'm no hero Roddy, just a girl afraid of losing her heart. That's why I had to avoid everyone this week, it was too painful for her, then I knew if I saw you… I'd be selfish._

 _She's built what is essentially a bomb vest, it's crude, but effective. I'm going to have to go through the Stargate, there are too many variables when it comes to short distance gate hopping, there's no guarantee the bomb would be in the right location otherwise, it needs a human touch._

 _I don't want to die._

 _I don't want to leave you, Carson, John… Atlantis._

 _Please take care of each other, Carson will blame himself, remind him that it's not his fault, people need him._

 _You can't blame yourself either. Atlantis needs you._

 _I wish I had been braver, smarter, wish I'd taken more chances._

 _Loved more, kissed you._

 _I hope you can forgive me._

 _Love, Alison Beckett.'_

I found myself reading her words over and over again. She didn't want to die. Why didn't she come to me, I would have helped her. Damn it! I lashed out, knocking a pot of pens off the table. I just left, before I could break down. I needed a distraction. I needed a drink.


	2. Chapter 2

"Damn it McKay!" John grabbed the bottle of moonshine, tearing it from my hands.

"Give it back."

"It's been a week. You've got to stop!"

"Why? We've successfully avoided the biggest disaster of the century and all it cost was her life!" I yelled, making a grab for the bottle, missing it by centimetres, I think.

"Rodney…" I looked up, don't look at me like that. Like I'm wounded

"What? You were right. And I had to lose her to find that out. So give me my drink."

"No. Come on" He lightly grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet.

"What're you doing?"

"She asked me to take care of you. So I'm taking you to the mess, and I'm going to make sure you eat something. And I'm cutting off your alcohol supply." I rolled my eyes, as if he could stop me getting my hands on alcohol, I'm a scientist, I make alcohol. "You're not the only one who misses her. What she did saved a lot of people. We can't change what happened, but she wouldn't want you to let Atlantis fall into ruin." Wait… what.

"Say that again."

"She wouldn't want you to let Atlantis fall into ruin?"

"no, no, before that"

"We can't change what happened?" that's it! The missing piece.

"That's it. John you're a genius. Well not a genius like me, but how did I miss it"

"Rodney, you're not make sense"

"I can change it. I can save her"

"How?"

"The time slip, it was naturally occurring, so it'll be unaffected by actual events in the timeline. I can use that to contact myself and stop her before she leaves."

"But the time slip connected to Alison, so wouldn't you wind up talking to her? And if you stop her we'd still be under siege, and we'd lose, again."

"No. Time slips most likely fall under the time travel theory involving Kerr black holes, a spinning singularity, which if enough energy is injected into it can become visible, allowing someone or something to pass through. Although injecting that much energy is currently unsustainable, that's why time travel using the stargate require a solar flare, but that's wormhole theory and irrelevant. This naked singularity hypothetically could create a mirror, you can see and hear the other side, without passing through. There are numerous theories about the location of the exit in relevance to the entrance of such an event, especially when there's no anchor point like the Stargate."

"Right…"

"You know the hypothesis that two objects from different times can't interact in the same timeline"

"Because it would cause a paradox. That's why you said she was stupid to use time travel"

"Not stupid, desperate. We don't technically know what a paradox would do. Anyway, if we were to assume that the universe is trying to correct any errors or changes, these natural alterations to time. It's logical to assume that without an anchor the slip will naturally gravitate to the closest possible match, almost superimposing the two objects to minimise the interference. So future me would naturally be pulled to past me, regardless of our individual location."

"Right. And how do you plan on fixing the whole 'losing Atlantis' problem?" How… I thought for a moment, about what I know about both timelines, twiddling my fingers, there were drawings in her room, diagrams…

"I'll have to fix it."

"Fix what?"

"The shield. There was a shield on the diagrams, it was mentioned on her plans… it must have failed." she had gone into it with a plan, I knew she had to have.

"Do you even know when or where this timeslip is going to happen? I can't imagine it'll be a wide window of opportunity."

"I do." Her letter, it was a timeline, I grinned "This was her back-up plan! My little genius" I turned to head to the lab when John tugged my shirt

"Rodney. Dinner first."

"Right, right. Will you ask the team analysing the debris to send anything that wasn't from the ship or robots to be sent to my lab?"

"If I do, will you stop drinking, eat properly, and take a shower?"

"Yes."

"Alright, come on then" he tugged me back in the direction of the mess, the smell of food was a welcome one, I'd forgotten how hungry I was. Piling up the food we made our way to a table, where I was more than eager to dig in. "Slow down, you'll make yourself sick."

"I know how to eat!"

"Eat yes, eat after starving yourself, no" I rolled my eyes but followed his advice.

" " Elizabeth sighed, looking me up and down momentarily "Rodney, once you're done eating I'd like a word"

"But I'd like to get back to-"

"It's not a request" she warned

"He might be a while, I'll bring him up" John interjected, she nodded before leaving.

"I don't need babying."

"Really?" I rolled my eyes, mash potato never tasted so good.

"How're you doing Rodney?" Elizabeth asked as I sat down,

"I'd be doing much better if I was working."

"Reports say you've not been working at all, in fact they've expressed concern about your wellbeing."

"I'm better now. I need to fix this."

"Fix what?" I sighed

"I can save her."

"Alison?"

"No, Abraham Lincoln, of course I mean Alison. I need to work out what went wrong with the shield component. Which means I need to be in my lab."

"He thinks he may be able to use the same technique that Alison used to contact herself."

"How?"

"It's complicated. But it makes sense" John vouched for me

"I just need to do more research"

"I can't sanction this as an official project"

"But-"

"But" she raised her hand to stop me "I can let you use 's lab. Providing that your other work doesn't suffer, I won't interfere with your extra-curricular research"

"Of course my work won't suffer" I scoffed "I've been trapped in small rooms, with nothing but my tablet, and still kept the city running. So can I go?"

"Go clean up first. Shower then lab" John warned.

"Alright."

*John's POV*

Rodney left her office with a new determination in his step, it was a damn sight better than the drunken stupor he's been in all week.

"John. Do you really think he can do it?" She asked once he was out of earshot

"Honestly? I don't know. I've come to expect the impossible with him, but it's a long shot, there's no guarantee the anomaly will still appear in two years."

"I suppose it's something for him to focus on, at least. Alison was worried he's blame himself. She asked that I made sure he doesn't turn away from people. I wanted to give him time to mourn before intervening"

"She asked you too. Rodney and Carson, her two boys. She used to joke that the two of them ran Atlantis. One for the city and one for its people" I sighed, talking about her in past tense seems wrong. I've always known that we might lose somebody on a mission, I'd prepared for that possibility. But she was here, in Atlantis, she should have been protected.

"She saved a lot of lives."

"Doesn't make it any easier, she was one of us" she nodded

"Will you check in on Carson, and check that Rodney's plans aren't… dangerous"

"I was going to see Carson this morning. Only wound up dragging Rodney to the mess because he'd gotten his hands on some moonshine. Even I know it's too early for heavy liquor"

"I'll have to ask Zelenka to limit his access to the distillery." I nodded

"I'll keep you updated." I headed up to the infirmary, where Carson had been keeping himself busy, "hey"

"Sheppard" he acknowledged, without looking up from the petri dishes

"What're you up to?"

"Culturing bacteriaphages. I'm trying to develop a gene therapy to infect people with the ATA gene. I'm trying to determine the best vector."

"You can do that?"

"The theory is sound, but I'm waiting for more promising results before testing." I nodded as he moved the dishes to the incubator.

"How're you holding up?"

"I've been keeping myself busy, it's the only way I can cope at the moment" he removed his gloves, slumping onto one of the beds "It's hard. I've written and rewritten the letter to mum more times than I can count. How do I tell her that Ali's dead?" he buried his face into his hands "You know, growing up, she always looked after us. She'd make sure we ate dinner, helped us with our homework, looked after us when we were sick… All so mum and dad could work. I always thought she'd grow up to be the doctor, then she fell in love with engineering, believed she could save the world with mechanics."

"In a way she did. Better even, she saved more worlds than just ours"

"Aye. I just. I was supposed to look after her now. I keep expecting her to come through that door, with a cut or a burn from their latest experimental mishap." he sighed "Does it ever get easier?"

"Sometimes it eases. But you never really forget."

"Are you alright? I know since she got closer to McKay, the three of you have been close pals"

"Movie nights aren't going to be the same. It's been quiet. Without Rodney on missions, or butting in with his theories. I wouldn't say it to his face, but I miss his boasting"

"Ali used to despise being the smartest person in the room, Rodney really brought her out of her shell. How's he doing?"

"I thought I'd have to bring him here, for alcohol poisoning, or hypoglycemia… but I think her letter has left him something to cling to, now that he's worked it out."

"Really?" he looked up, there was a tone of optimism in his voice, he needs something to cling too

"He thinks he can save her. The specifics are a bit lost on me, time travel, sending a message to his past self. But if anyone can, it's going to be Rodney"

"Aye, I can't imagine anyone being her knight in worn out, battered armour, than Rodney"

"Isn't it knight in shining armour?"

"Ali used to say a knight in shining armour had never seen a battle, and she'd rather fight her own way out, than rely on an amateur." he chuckled, settling on a solemn smile "She never did like relying on other people, didn't want to worry us, even when it mattered."

"We couldn't have known" I patted his shoulder "If you need anyone" he nodded

"Thanks. Tell Rodney if he pulls this off, I'll be in his debt forever."

"Will do." I headed to the labs, Rodney wasn't in his, so I checked Ali's and sure enough he was sorting through scrap metal, his hair looked damp, so he'd at least done what I asked, a steaming cup of coffee by his side. There were several technical drawings pinned to the wall, I couldn't really make heads or tails of them

"Alison drew them" Rodney stated, I thought he hadn't noticed me come in "To be more specific, future Alison drew them. The first set of writing is rushed, like when she's working to get a first draft done. Our Ali made notes for me in our shorthand, she writes neater when she's proof reading" he added, lifting a piece of shrapnel to the paper

"Is this her plan for the bomb?"

"Each page is a separate component, if you put them on top of each other you get a full composite. She likes the hands on approach, I prefer a digital rendering myself." He placed the piece on one tray before picking up another

"You trying to rebuild it?"

"As much as I can. I need to rule out a malfunction, then I can test the integrity of the build"

"If you need any help" he nodded, before rambling about how he was capable of keeping track of everything on his own, and he doesn't want to risk missing anything. I turned to the whiteboard, a copy of the letter she'd written him was stuck to it, with sections highlighted and notations added, corresponding to a rough timeline. "So the two of you do get hitched" I mumbled, though Rodney either didn't hear or respond. "You've two years to solve the problem. Don't burn out on the first day. Pace yourself"

"I know. I just don't want to miss anything."

"You won't. This is you we're talking about" he nodded, smiling softly

"Thanks John." He continued rummaging through the shrapnel, that was it, no bragging remark about his genius? This is going to be a long two years.

…

"That's it!" McKay exclaimed

"You've worked a way out of this hellhole?" I asked sitting up in the dimly lit cell, I'd run out of ideas and he'd been mumbling to himself in the corner.

"What. no"

"You have been thinking about how to get us out right?"

"I solved that ages ago"

"Care to share with the rest of the class?"

"You think I've been sat here doing nothing? I rewired the electrics, when they swipe the door to feed us, the magnetic strip will complete the circuit causing a power surge, opening the cell door."

"Right. So your eureka moment?"

"The power cell connecting the shield to the detonator. It must have been the source of the problem. She couldn't run any simulations because the material burns up once the current is disrupted, so the detonation must've used up more power than anticipated, destabilizing the distribution to the shield."

"So you're saying she just needed more batteries?"

"Not exactly, she's used a naquadah generator, so we're talking a massive power demand. But you know what this means?"

"That I wish they'd hurry up and feed us so we can go home?"

"Well yes, but I can do this. After months of research I can actually do it. It's not a theory anymore"

"I believe someone is approaching the room."

"Finally" Ronon stretched "Maybe you can tell your girlfriend that this planet is a no-go"

"Why? We've gotten out of worse scrapes than this. Thought you'd like the chance to punch something" he snarked. Rodney was back.

*Rodney's POV*

"I'm glad I'm worth keeping around" she laughed softly "Now you look like shit. Go sleep" she kissed my cheek, before heading to the transporter to her secret room. I shook my head as I headed back into the lab, maybe I should ask Weir about adding in a sofa, we spend enough time in here and next door, it might be a good idea. Might stop her running off to her room when she needs to relax. I went to power down the room, when everything started to go fuzzy, I don't remember cyanide poisoning having delayed side effects.

"That wasn't as bad as I was expecting." I turned towards the voice to see a replica of myself, he was checking the back of his hands like he was checking he was in one piece, where the hell had he come from? This door was the only way in or out of this lab, and why did he look like me? I'd only taken two steps forward when his eyes met mine and he waved his hands around "Woah woah, stop. Don't come any closer, don't touch me. Today is not the day I find out about temporal paradoxes" Temporal paradoxes?

"Are you trying to say you're from the future?"

"A future, yes." Seriously? "Don't look at me like that. I don't even know how long I've got, so for once in our life you're going to shut it and listen!"

"Am I now?" I scoffed, as if I'm going to stand here and listen to some clever imitation

"Alison is going to die." he stated bluntly. That wasn't what I was expecting. "Right now, she's getting a message from a future version of herself, from a different timeline than me. She's trying to change the future where we lose Atlantis in an invasion. It's all rather complicated you can compare notes later."

"How do I know this isn't some sort of distraction? That you're not just a clone or a replicator?"

"Because I'm not. Look I love Ali. We love her, and trust me, you don't want to spend the next two years without her."

"I don't love Ali, we simply have a respect for each other's work and intelligence"

"God is that really how I sounded when I spouted that nonsense?" he groaned "No wonder Sheppard kept bringing it up. You love her." he reiterated "The quicker you comprehend that the better. Anyway you don't have to believe me right now, but you do have to listen, then tomorrow when you get an email about Ali taking some time off you'll know I'm telling the truth. Then when Carson starts bugging you because he hasn't seen her, you'll know you're doing the right thing. Now. Ali is going to build a bomb to take out the enemy ship, but the Naquadah battery can't sustain the current required to keep her shield active. You're going to have to cut open tinman on the table there, you'll need to to electrify the blade to carve away the shell. Inside there's a green box, right around here" he gestured to his collarbone area "That's the power source, once you've disconnected it you need to modify it." He continued to explain the mechanics in a way that anyone other than me wouldn't have been able to comprehend, let alone follow. If this was a clone it was a damn good one. "... and you'll have to attach it behind the first pack, if possible tuck it underneath the shield, so that it doesn't get detached during the explosion. Keep it with you so that when the red alert sounds you can head straight to the gate room, you have to get there before she leaves otherwise…" he trailed off

"Why would she… she's not the hero type."

"Because she loves us." he smiled "She'll write you a letter, leave it in her secret room. Explaining why she did all of this, leaving her blueprints and description of the other timeline, which allowed me to do do this if her plan didn't work. In the original timeline, we lost Atlantis in this attack, we lose lots of people, including Carson. We found comfort in each other, started dating, we even got married." he sighed "Then we were leading a team to take back Atlantis, and I, we, he died. Ali said she couldn't live through that, she refused to accept that. That's why she's going so far to change the future, to save Atlantis, and to save us. Now I'm trying to change it again, because I need her. More than I realised."

"Really? Any other keynotes you want to mention?" Trying to deviate from the romantic nonsense he was spouting.

"Erm. If you're ever in a puddle jumper and someone starts talking about tomatoes. Eject, immediately. Don't go for the fabric sofa, seems like the comfiest option, but John will spill coffee on it, and it will never come out… I think the singularity is stabilizing" he looked around and sure enough he was fading and the room was becoming clearer "Give Ali a kiss from me" he added before he disappeared completely. I rubbed my eyes and the room was back to normal. That was unusual to say the least. I grabbed my tablet and began rendering what he'd described. Afterwards I headed back to my quarters, I'll talk to Ali and John in the morning, then decide what to do.

I woke up to the little light flashing on my tablet, an email, typical, you sleep for a few hours and they break something. Opening it up, it wasn't an emergency as I'd expected, it was about Alison. She'd decided to take some time off, to rest and for personal reasons. A week to be exact. Just as he said. Alison taking time off wasn't something you could predict, he had to have known.

…

"I don't know! She's avoiding everyone. Me included!" I snapped at Carson grabbing some more wire "Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to focus!"

"I'd have thought you'd be more understanding. I thought you were her friend!"

"I am! That's why I have to get this right!" I cursed, You just don't get it! None of you do! "I can't waste time explaining it to you. I can't" The gnawing feeling at the pit of my stomach resurfaced, it'd been getting more frequent this week, I'll ask Carson about it when I'm finished, until then I'm just going to have to deal with it.

"Rodney?! So you have a fight with Beckett and you break your door?" What? I never. I turned to see that the lab door was shut, it rumbled like someone was trying to open it but it didn't budge. I couldn't help but feel a little smug, Atlantis was on my side, not the chosen gene-holder John Sheppard. The smugness was short-lived, because that meant the threat was real, Alison really could die if I don't do this right. "First Alison goes AWOL, and now you're locking yourself in your lab" he continued "We're worried that you've been affected by something. Let me in Rodney." I'm sorry John, I need to save her. He was right, I can't face losing her.

…

Atlantis shook, and the alarm sounded. Covering my ears I almost headed to command on instinct, but I remembered that I had to go straight to the gate room. I passed a few people who normally operated the gate. The event horizon was fluctuating at the other side of the room, she hadn't gone through yet. It wasn't long until she emerged from the control room "Alison!" I shouted and she froze on the spot "Ali" I repeated as I got closer. She turned, looking from the open wormhole to me.

"Rod-ney" she flinched as I stepped closer "No you shouldn't- even if you found the recording as soon as the alarm sounded, you shouldn't have gotten here so soon" she began rambling, her whole body was shaking

"I know what you're doing." and with that the composure she'd been clinging to, broke, and sobs wracked her chest,

"I, I have to Roddy. Otherwise Atlantis, you, Carson… I have to" She turned back the Stargate, I had to stop her. I grabbed her hand

"Wait!" she was still shaking "I have to fix your shield." She didn't move as I began rewiring the powerpack to accommodate the second battery.

"How did you know?" She asked as I tucked the pack beneath her jacket, zipping it back up.

"I told me. You died the first time. I used the time slip to get the solution to you in time." I looked up to see a fondness in her eyes,

"You came back for me." she wrapped her arms around me "Thank you" she stepped back and I found myself wanting to pull her back. Her shaking had stopped, a small smile replaced the fear "I have to go" I nodded, she looked so brave. She looked beautiful. How did I never see that before?

"Marry me" I blurted.

"We haven't even had a date." she chuckled "Or a kiss"

"I could fix that" I leaned forward and she pressed her finger to my lips

"I love you Roddy." she smiled "Save that kiss for when I come home" and with that she disappeared into the wormhole.

"Sheppard to McKay!" John's voice echoed through the com "We need you up here. Where are you?! This ship came out of nowhere."

"John. I need you to meet me in the Jumper bay"

"Now isn't the time for a trip to the mainland, didn't you hear me, we're under attack"

"I need you to help me find Alison, once that ship blows up"

"What do you mean, _when_ that ship blows up?" Almost on cue, a second shock wave hit the city. I almost lost my balance, the ship must've been closer than I expected. "Rodney?" John badgered

"I'll explain on the jumper!" I snapped, and reluctantly he agreed. I'd finished my modifications and he still wasn't here, for a man who runs a lot he's taking his time.

"Rodney, what's going on?"

"I've calibrated the sensors to scan for lifesigns, please John." Something registered on his face, he realised I was serious, maybe it was the pleading, but he nodded and climbed in.

"Stop fidgeting!" he chided "We'll find her"

"I still don't know if the modifications worked, let alone if the current would be sustained once she hit the water." I rambled when a dot flickered on the screen "There!"

"I see her" he flew as close as he could without disturbing the water "Do you think you can grab her or do you want to take the helm?"

"You're a better swimmer than me" I paused "She's not moving… John"

"Rodney." he warned, before diving into the water, once he had her he signalled me to move closer. Between us we pulled her on board, I clambered to her side, John was leaning over her "She's alive Rodney" he smiled "She's weak but ok" I felt the legs go from beneath me, she was alive, it worked. John patted my shoulder before taking control of the jumper "We need a medical team to meet us in the jumper bay"

"I've got my hands full" Carson replied "I can't spare anyone"

"It's for Ali!" I barked down the com, he was silent for a moment

"Can you get her here? I can clear space for her but I can't send anyone to get her."

"I'll bring her" John affirmed

"Is it bad?" he hesitated, I shouldn't have shouted, he'd be worried about her too

"She's alive." I responded, my hand hadn't left her wrist, I could feel her pulse beneath my fingers, like she was telling me she was here. I didn't want to let go, if I couldn't feel that rhythm…

"That's some indispensable medical terminology, Rodney. Johnson stop squirming, it's only going to hurt more" he cursed at his patient

"She's unconscious, no sign of bleeding, she's cold, but that could just be because of the water." I added as John picked her up, taking her from me. He winced as he stepped out of the jumper "What? what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just static" he dismissed it, heading straight to the infirmary, which was busy, but didn't have the same feeling as an emergency, which meant no major casualties. They ushered her to a bed when Carson shooed us away. "Come on, let them do their job. You need to tell Weir what's going on. Since you and Ali seem to be the only ones clued in"

"There'll be a crisis meeting once the dust settles. I have to do something first." compare notes as it were. I had questions too.

*Alison's POV*

I groggily found myself aware of the ache through my body, like I'd been through a mincer. The explosion! I panicked, jolting, reaching for something on my arm "Stop!" hands pushed me back on the bed, I had to get away! "Ali, Ali! open your eyes!" I followed the instructions to see Carson was the one holding me down, I wasn't trapped, I was in the infirmary. "You almost ripped out your IV"

"I didn't mean… I mean I thought…"

"Breathe, slowly" he helped me sit up, propping me up with pillows.

"What happened?"

"You blew up a ship, apparently. All I know is the explosion, which sent you into the ocean, caused a sudden acceleration which caused you to pass out before impact. Your shield reduced the impact, but you're still going to have some major bruising. You were lucky… a fall like that." he shook his head, "What were you thinking?"

"I had to stop them…" I grumbled "I had to." He lightly hit the top of my head with his tablet

"And you thought that you had to do it on your lonesome? You disappeared for a week without warning, then we all get cryptic letters before you go and get yourself blown up!" he was starting to shout "We could have helped, even if it was just McKay!" I winced, the tears started before I could stop them "Oh Ali, I didn't mean to-" he blurted, sitting beside me as he wrapped his arm around me. I curled into his chest, bawling like a baby. "Shh, you're safe now, I got you"

"I was so scared" I blubbered, as he just brushed my hair, rocking me gently, waiting until I burned myself out. "Sorry… I know you must be busy." he shook his head

"They can handle it, the influx of injuries have slowed to a crawl. Besides, I'm never too busy for my big sis" he ruffled my hair

"You're a big wain" he chuckled

"That's no nice, your accent is seeping through again"

"Don't care"

"Don't see why you hide it"

"I don't, just got into the habit of practicing diction. The Americans didnae understand me, alright. In a lab where things can blow up it made sense. Crabbit bastard."

"I think you're the crabbit bastard this time."

"Bite me" I smirked as he hugged me tighter

"Nice to know you're feeling better."

"See, told you she was awake" I looked up to see John and Rodney, I smiled unsure of what to say. He just looked relieved.

"How did you even know? We never got an alert." he glared at Carson

"I was going to, but she almost ripped her IV out, then the crying. I couldn't leave her."

"She told you. Didn't she?"

"I think so"

"She?" Rodney and Carson turned to us, confused.

"Atlantis" John responded

"I feel more attuned to her than before. I was trying to see how bad the damage was. I needed to know… I was worried"

"And your first instinct was to ask the city?" It was more like she let me know, she knew it would help calm me down if I saw the damage wasn't severe.

"Oddly, yeah." I yawned "Why am I tired? Haven't I been out for hours?"

"Being unconscious isn't the same as being asleep."

"If you don't mind, I'd rather sleep in my room." I don't like hospitals, they're loud and I don't like feeling useless, all these injured people…

"Alright." Carson smiled, a gentle squeeze of my hand "I'll get you some pills" he disappeared into his stock room, hopefully to get me something stronger than ibuprofen.

"I've got to go see Weir, give her an update on the repairs" he pulled me into a hug, placing a kiss on my temple "Glad you're ok. He was worried out of his mind" he whispered, ruffling my hair "I'm sure McKay can take you to your room" he waved disappearing down the hall, the man moves like a ninja, I'm glad he's on our side. I looked up to Rodney, about to talk, when Carson came back rambling on about dosage, like I couldn't read the label. Removing my IV, he bandaged my arm, before turning to Rodney

"Ahh Mckay. Make sure she's straight to bed, right lad? And remember you've a physical due soon" he smirked, I rolled my eyes at his thinly veiled threat.

"Stop with the testosterone competition and help me up. I think my ribs are hurt."

"It's actually your intercostal muscles." I winced as my feet touched the floor, my legs hurt too. "You're lucky they weren't broken. I told you, you were lucky." he warned before advising Rodney the best way to support me, so I wound up hobbling across Atlantis with his arm around my waist, and mine wrapped around his shoulder.

"You haven't said anything." Was he mad at me?

"Thinking… I just… seeing you like that. I thought I'd failed."

"You didn't. You fixed a problem that technically wasn't yours to fix. You're my hero" I rested my head on his shoulder "My big brained hero." Suddenly the lights shut off, plunging the hall into darkness.

"They just had to disconnect this section of the city from the power grid to fix a big hole in the wall." He rummaged through his pocket for a torch, clicking it on illuminating a small section of the hallway "They sent out a mail about it earlier… you're shaking." That was me? "Ali." he moved me to the side, brushing the hair from my face as he looked me in the eyes "Ali. Do you need to go back to the infirmary?" I shook my head, I don't want to… "Your room's just there" he pointed his torch down the hall "Do you think you can make it?" I nodded

"Don't leave me!" I grasped at his arm. I can't…

"Ali breathe. You're panicking"

"I don't panic!" I gasped "I can't breathe" He helped me into my room, sitting me on the bed.

"I'm going to get you some water" I tightened my grip on his sleeve "The dark. Right…" he looked around, handing me the torch as he rummaged through the standard safety kit, he activated some glowsticks sticking them inside a bottle of water. The room brightened up a little with a green glow, the refraction of the water increasing the intensity. "You alright?" I nodded "Count your breathing, remember. Just like you told me." I nodded again, starting to count through my breaths, in...hold...out… in...hold...out. I felt the tightness start to ease up, I hadn't even noticed Rodney's return until the bed sank beside me, a glass of water in his hand. "Here"

"Thanks." I whispered, slowly sipping it, even water was hard to swallow.

"What happened? I didn't know you were afraid of the dark" I shook my head

"I'm not… I wasn't… I… the ship." I could feel the tremor in my fingers, stop, stop, stop. I clutched the glass tighter "I guess robots designed to work underground wouldn't be limited by the same visual frequencies that we are…" I trailed off, I don't want to burden Rodney with this… We're supposed to be science and facts, not emotion and confusion. I don't know what to do.

"Can I do anything? I'm not Carson or John… but I, for you, I want to…"

"Will you stay? I… I don't want to be alone." I sound like a child, a selfish child, Rodney has more important things to do than baby me. I was interrupted by him shrugging the jacket from his shoulder, draping it over my chair before sitting beside me. I curled up into his side "I'm sorry"

"You've nothing to apologize for"

"But you were probably busy…"

"Zelenka can handle it tonight. We'll fix it later." I looked to meet his gaze, it's hard to believe it took an invasion for me to realise just how much the awkward genius had come to mean to me, and here he was, choosing me over his work. "What-" I leaned up, lightly pressing my lips to his, "oh"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have… I" he leaned in kissing me

"I promised didn't I?" he smiled a little "Welcome home" I closed my eyes, listening to the rise and fall of his chest… home… I was home… I was alive.

…

The following morning Rodney had to head to the lab, a small kiss goodbye and he was gone, probably to check that Radek hadn't wired the city to explode. I took one of my painkillers before hobbling through the city, the damage wasn't that bad, I wasn't allowed to help, but one or two of the scientists let me sit with them while they worked, Zelenka occasionally asked some questions to keep me from being bored, even though he already knew the answer, I think he was worried about me. When I headed to the mess to have lunch with Rodney, I found that the lights would brighten in dark corridors, even Atlantis was looking after me. Rodney updated me on all the repairs, complained about the others, and we discussed some upgrades that we might implement while we're carrying out repairs. It felt normal, I wanted normal. I handed him my pudding cup earning an odd look. "Sounds like you're going to have a busy night."

"Will you be alright?"

"As long as you don't cut power to my section" I forced a smile "I'm a tough cookie. I'll cope" he watched me hesitantly, I kissed his cheek. "I've to go get my bandages changed" I dismissed myself heading up to the infirmary.

I didn't cope.

Even the lights couldn't chase away the nightmares, I woke up in a cold sweat, I don't know how long it took to calm down after that, but sleeping on my own was out of the question, I could call Rodney… no I needed to let him work. I ended up at John's door, had he been sleeping, or does he just not get bed head like the rest of us? or does he just have a permanent bed head?

"Ali, what's wrong?" he sobered up almost instantly, like flicking a switch, what a nice skill that would be to have, even after calming down, showering, and walking around the city, I still felt like I was there, on that ship, about to die… "Ali?" his hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality,

"John… Can I sleep on your couch?" he raised his brow like he was going to ask why, but then his gaze softened, and nodded letting me inside

"I'll get you a pillow and blanket, make yourself comfortable"

"Thanks"

"If you need me I'll just be over there" he left the small desk lamp on before he headed back to bed. The first time I woke up screaming, John reached for his gun. He didn't quite believe me when I dismissed it as a bad dream. The second time, it was like he expected it.

"Post traumatic stress disorder?"

"The nightmares, the light. Do you find yourself jumping at shadows? Panic attacks?" I nodded, he handed me a tissue "You've been through an ordeal, it's not surprising that you're unsettled"

"I shouldn't be!" I protested "I should be"

"Stronger? Logical? Independant? I've heard it all. There's nothing wrong with getting help."

"Help?"

"Talk to someone, Heightmeyer would be a start" I nodded "You ok?"

"I will be… I just don't want to burden people with this…"

"I'm sure nobody will think you're a burden." he wrapped his arms round me "Nobody."

…

I met with Heightmeyer the following morning, to talk about my feelings, my options. Which was how I'd wound up with Teyla, she'd let me stay with her while she taught me relaxation techniques. Meditation was the most helpful, normally you'd visualise waves or a gentle breeze, something calm to help you breathe. You'd pick somewhere that's neither real or fake, a mixture of both, a safe place. Mine started off back home, Scotland in her finery, then as I rested it would fade into Atlantis, like she was giving me a hug. Something Heightmeyer would probably have me committed for if I ever said it out loud. I managed to sleep in my own room the following week, with the lights on, and a knife under my pillow, John said it helped him sleep during rough times, a little extra reassurance. I thought I was improving, then they went on a mission, and I got worse again, turns out you solve one problem, you tend to find another one, there were bugs in my code. I wound up on Ronon's sofa, he'd been ordered to stay home while the stab wound to his gut healed - something to do with a bar-fight. John and Teyla could keep a secret and take it to their grave, Ronon probably could too, but not when it meant getting one up on Rodney after a particularly stressful argument.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" he sighed, the anger at Ronon had melted from his face. now he just looked hurt, and it was my fault, no.

"What was I supposed to say!? That I'm a mess? That I can't sleep without a knife under my pillow? That when you go offworld I feel stranded and helpless? That for the first time in my life science can't fix it, science can't fix me…" I clenched my fist, trying not to cry, "I didn't want to disappoint you" I choked "You come out of all these disasters and you're so normal. I feel like I'm falling apart, I don't feel like me."

"Normal? You call what I go through normal? Everytime we go on a mission it takes all my effort not to lose my head, I'm sure the others say I lose it from time to time. I've just had more practice"

"Rod-"

"Hey." John entered the lab, confident with purpose, Ronon wasn't here, had he gone to get him? Had he been listening? No, John wouldn't eavesdrop, either way I'm thankful, the interruption may have stopped me from crying. "I decided, since you've been recovering, you've been working, and with missions, we haven't watched a movie in a while, and it's overdue."

"I don't think-" I squealed as he picked me up, throwing me over his shoulded "John!"

"You think too much. Come on Rodney, or do I need to carry you too? I've two shoulders"

"Coming" he grumbled. John had this uncanny ability to get everyone to do as he says, I'd have to ask him how he does it, and if he could teach me, though I think threatening to throw someone over my shoulder would earn more chuckles than respect.

"I've picked an old favourite of mine"

"Oh?"

"Rodney sit down first" he pointed to one of two sofas, then sat me beside him. He turned to his laptop which was connected to the makeshift projector we made one afternoon "Feel free to spread out" he smirked, dimming the lights and handing us a bucket of contraband popcorn, before sprawling on the other sofa, commandeered from an unused room, along with some other components, so we'd written of the room as uninhabitable for the time being, though we all used it for storage.

"So what is it?"

"A film."

"What type of film? Does it have a name?"

"It's called Hellraiser"

"Not the one with the skinless guy"

"That's the one"

"I'd like to go back now. I think Heightmeyer would agree that this is a bad idea"

"Kate's already given me the ok."

"You know I hate this film…"

"Depending on how you deal with fear, I'll recommend that she signs you off"

"That's bribery!" I protested, though I really want to go back to work.

"Come on Sheppard," Rodney added, "You can't expect her to sit through a scary movie"

"I do. An old buddy of mine used to watch IT after a bad mission, he was terrified of clowns, but it helped him cope. There's a difference between fear, and surviving an ordeal."

"If this doesn't work. I might smother you in your sleep" I grumbled

"That's why Rodney's here. Thought you'd feel more comfortable with him here. Now quiet, it's starting" I glared at him, grabbing some popcorn and making myself comfortable.

"I hate this movie." I grumbled. Rodney mumbled something reaching for my hand. It didn't take long until I was curled up in his arms. When the urge to panic reared its head I closed my eyes, remembered my training, my meditation. I listened to the rise and fall of Roddy's chest.

"See, wasn't that bad." I heard John declare, was it over? "she's sleeping? I was expecting her to retaliate and complain, not sleep. Or did she pass out?"

"She fell asleep. What were you thinking, the last thing she needs is a fright!" I felt his fingers brush across my hair, it was relaxing, I could feel myself drifting off.

"I think it's what you both needed. You've been overthinking it. Both of you. You're worried about setting off a landmine, you were the first to see her vulnerable, and that scared you. She didn't want to distract you, burden you. She's in love with you man, don't push her away"

"I didn't. I wasn't."

"Not on purpose. She needs you."

"She always smiled when she was worried, talked like everything was ok. She's the only reason I seemed normal. When she admitted how scared she was, when she cried, I knew how bad it was, I don't know how to help her."

"Just be there. That's how. You can put her in my bed, don't think she'd be happy if either of us went into her room." I clutched Rodney's shirt tight at the sudden movement "Maybe you should crawl in with her" he chuckled, I could just imagine the redness of Rodney's cheeks.

"Oh shut it. You're just jealous Sheppard" I smiled, letting myself drift off to sleep, maybe I'd be ok.

I woke up curled up beside Rodney, he was still sleeping, he looked so relaxed. We were still in John's room, I wonder where he is.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just getting my bearings. Wondering what time it is I've got to see Kate today… morning."

"Morning… it's only 8am." I kissed him softly "How're you feeling?"

"Better. Sorry for being the reason you had to watch a horror movie."

"For you I don't mind. Least it wasn't clowns." He grinned "Though the next time you're having problems, come to me?"

"But your work."

"I'll manage, I'm the smartest man in two galaxies after all… what's that smirk for?"

"You might be the smartest man in two galaxies, but I'm the luckiest lady" I watched his ears turn a shade of red, he was adorable. "After I've seen Kate, can I come to the lab? I tried following orders but being away from work for a month has been driving me nuts."

"I'm surprised you've lasted this long"

"I started drawing again… Though Atlantis has been keeping me informed, which helps. She's very fond of you"

"She is?" I nodded

"She's a smart lady. Knows who keeps her running." I kissed him again.

"Not in my bed" John snapped as he entered the room, must be back from his run. I chuckled as I sat up, running my fingers through my hair "You alright?"

"Better, still want to punch you though"

"Now, now, that's not nice." he smirked

"The Becketts are a violent pair" Rodney mumbled. that again, I stuck out my tongue.

"You're such a cute couple"

"We're not" I blurted, causing two pairs of raised eyebrows. "I'll explain it to you later" I pointed at Rodney, "And you need to shower" I pointed at John, "And me, I need a shower and breakfast"

"I bumped into Heightmeyer, said she wanted to see you earlier if possible."

"Hopefully it's good news." I stretched "See you later" I kissed Rodney's cheek.

*Rodney's POV*

"God, I missed the lab. I feel better just being here" she took a deep breath.

"Heightmeyer gave you the all clear"

"She said I'm allowed to work with supervision, meaning you're going to see a lot more of me, if that's ok?" she rocked on her feet, picking up one of our newest devices.

"Of course that's ok. Even if we're not a cute couple"

"Oh we are cute" she slipped the device over her fingers, nestling it her palm "Just not a couple."

"What? And you shouldn't touch, you know you shouldn't touch"

"I know what this is. You never actually asked me out…" she hesitated "Unless, you were serious about me marrying you?" her face turned a soft shade of pink

"When do I ever say something I don't mean?" I fumbled

"I thought it might just have been stress, or an influence of future you. Impulse."

"It was a little… well it wasn't…" he mentioned it, but I had thought about it, albeit not so soon "I want to" she smiled, she was beautiful when she smiled.

"In that case, I'd love to marry you"

"Really?"

"You don't think I'd let the smartest man in two galaxies get away do you?" She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, resting her forehead against mine "I love you" she pressed her lips against mine. Pulling away I remembered the gizmo on her hand

"Woah, careful."

"It's not on" she stepped back fiddling with it "It's the mind transfer device." she held out her palm as it lit up "I recognized it… do you trust me?"

"More than anyone else. Which is more than I probably should" she pouted, laughter in her eyes

"Just relax. if you feel uncomfortable, you can force me out" I nodded. I felt itchy, oh god, something's gone wrong. "I'm in Rodney" she looked to herself "That's weird. I need a haircut"

"What's the point of the device? If I can overwrite your imprint it's useless for espionage"

"To be two places at once? You would if you could. Admit it"

"It'd be useful. Especially during a crisis. How often do you think one person could use it?"

"Several times, It doesn't seem to have an effect on the user, I feel fine… Maybe it's for teaching? I mean what better way to learn than watching first hand?"

"Over time you'd probably gain the muscle memory"

"Not much I could teach you though." she paused "Maybe how to draw? Dance?"

"You dance?"

"It kept me fit…"

"Oh that's what your secret is." I mocked

"Oh shush"


	3. Chapter 3

"Roddy!" Ali grinned, tackling me in a hug "I got the all clear"

"Congratulations" I smiled as she bounced around, she'd been working hard to cope with everything that had happened, getting the all clear is an acknowledgement of her effort

"It's thanks to you" she kissed me, slipping my arms around her waist, she grinned against my lips, but pulled away slightly "We're still in the lab"

"Oh yeah… oh, I wanted to give you something" I moved to my desk pulling out the box, I hope she liked them.

"Rodney" she smiled, lifting one of them upto the light "An Atlantian alloy?"

"It was from the repairs, I thought you'ld like it"

"They're lovely, it's a piece of home."

"And the alloy means we can wear them without worrying about conductivity or damage" she nodded, never taking her eyes off of the small ring

"What's wrong?"

"They're warm" she placed it on my palm and the heat dissipated quickly, when she touched it again it warmed up "Could it be the gene?"

"Possibly, it's not uncomfortable is it?" she shook her head

"It's unusual, but it's like you're holding my hand."

"I was thinking. I have to go to Earth next month, Jeannie was insistent. Do you want to come with me? I need backup for this trip."

"You want me to meet your sister?" she stuttered "I mean… yeah… why'd you need backup"

"She's just had a baby, and I love little Maddie but…"

"You're not keen on kids" I nodded "it's ok, you can't be perfect" she kissed my cheek "I'll tell Elizabeth I want the same days off as you."

"Thank you."

"No problem." she smiled

…

"Let's get married" she mumbled against my chest "When we're back on Earth"

"Today?"

"Today, tomorrow. We've got all week… If you want to…"

"Of course I want to." I smiled "I love you"

"I love you too" I watched her curl closer to me, I was a very lucky man

"I don't want to get out of bed." she grumbled "But we've got to run diagnostics before we leave"

"We should get ready. I'll cover the North and East, you take South and West" she nodded uncurling from my side, to get dressed.

"I'll meet you at the gate"

"Alright" she smiled heading back to her own room. Working through our diagnostics kept us busy till noon, we were set to leave at 1pm, which meant we'd arrive about 9am back home. When I arrived at the gate room Ali was already there, being lectured by Carson.

"And don't forget to call mum, she's been complaining that you don't call"

"I know, I know" she sighed, "Ah, Rodney" she waved, "We best get going, don't want to be late!" she hugged Carson before grabbing my hand, tugging me through the gate. "Sorry, he was nagging" she apologised as we emerged on the platform.

"That's what Carson does"

"Alison. McKay"

"Daniel" she smiled, hugging the archeologist "It's good to see you"

"You too. I almost didn't believe the transmission when it said the two of you were taking a holiday" he smirked "Together no less."

"We thought it would be a good way to celebrate my return to active duty. The past couple of months have been hectic, to say the least. And a chance to meet Jeannie" she rambled

"We heard. Glad you're better, Ali. Take good care of her McKay" he chuckled taking us through security, and up to the front gates. "Your car is just outside the barrier." he handed her the keys, before hugging her again "Have fun" he smirked before heading back inside.

"Is it me or did he know something? It's because I'm bouncy isn't it. I'm excited and nervous. all rolled into one" we climbed into the car, as I started looking online for somewhere to marry us on short notice. "Am I supposed to feel this nervous?"

"Not having second doubts?"

"No. Not at all. Where to?"

"We'll try this one first." I inputted the address onto the sat nav. "Calm down, I'd rather we didn't crash and burn. Please"

"I'll have you know I'm a brilliant driver" she smirked, turning on the radio.

…

"I told Jeannie we were held up, and we'll get there tomorrow afternoon" she nodded fiddling with the laptop, she'd decided to call her mum before she forgets.

"Sounds good. Now to get the hard part over with" She tugged on the headset "Hi mum" she waved to the camera, "I know it's almost dinner, but timezones." she shrugged "I'm good, how's everyone back home? Really" she giggled "I'm sorry. But it's kind of amusing. I know I'd have known if I called more often, but work keeps me busy. Well Carson gets more holidays than me, that's why"

"No, he just uses them. You're as bad as me when it comes to using holidays"

"That?" She unplugged the headset "You've done it now. You best come over and say hello" I sighed, it was my own fault, I really do need to learn when to stop talking. The woman on the other end of the call was definitely Mrs Beckett, you could see them in her face.

"Hi, I'm Rodney. I work with Alison and Carson…"

"Oh, is that all?" she wiggled her eyebrows, earning a groan from Ali, I guess that's why she doesn't call home very often.

"Mum." she sighed, then a mischievous smile grew, "No. Rodney's my husband" her mum almost squeaked as she started rambling "Mum. mum. Mother!" she snapped "It's been a long day, I promise I'll tell you more later, but you can't tell anyone yet, I haven't told Carson yet, I want to tell him myself… alright? Night" she shut off the call "Sorry about that… mum, she can be a little obsessive, and she gets a bit annoying."

"Just wait till you see Jeannie tomorrow, soon as she sees that ring on your finger."

"That's tomorrow." she smirked "This is our honeymoon" she slipped her arms around my shoulders pressing her body to mine "My first night as Alison McKay"

"It's suits you" my fingers rested on the curve of her waist as her lips met mine.

…

"Mer!" Jeannie grinned as she opened the door, "You must be Alison?" she swept her up in a hug, when she shivered, not used to the Canadian cold "Sorry, come in, you must be freezing" we headed inside, and Jeannie instructed me to take our bags upstairs, but to be quiet cause the kid was asleep. When I came back downstairs the two of them were chatting like they'd been friends for years, "Meredith McKay" I winced, I was in trouble "why didn't you tell me she was your wife?" I glanced to Alison, who mouthed sorry.

"Because you ordered me upstairs the second I got here" I rolled my eyes "How was I supposed to tell you anything? Where's Maddie and Kaleb?"

"Soccer practice. I thought it was too cold to take Jordan, besides, I didn't know what time you'd get here, because you stopped off to get married."

"Jeannie, nobody else knew either" she grumbled, mumbling under her breath, causing Ali to laugh, "What?"

"I'll get the two of you some coffee" she disappeared into the kitchen

"What did she say?"

"That you never even told her you were dating. And that I was cute. Sorry about her springing it on you, she noticed the rings, and… I'm a crap liar…" She wasn't wrong about you being cute

"Don't worry. Jeannie, let's just say if we ever needed an interrogator, she could fill that spot. She can be scary" she chuckled, resting her head on my shoulder, when a cry sounded from upstairs

"Mer could you check on him?" She shouted through

"Don't worry, I'll go. I've experience with babies. Carson being the prime example" she kissed my cheek before disappearing upstairs.

"Did she go up?" I nodded, handing me the mug of coffee as she sat beside me "So, you loove her?" she sang "Aww I never thought I'd see the day Meredith McKay got married."

"Technically you didn't"

"Sourpuss. So come on, tell me everything. Well everything you can" The third degree, I should have known. I started telling her some of the details, nothing Ali wouldn't want her to know. The door opened and Maddie and Kaleb bounced in

"Uncle Rodney!" She flung herself into my arms, "We won our match" she grinned

"Well done" I smiled

"Is that the time?" Jeannie questioned "Is Alison still upstairs?"

"She must be…" Oh god what if something happened. "Let's go see" she ruffled my hair "Maddie, honey, go wash up. Then you can tell Uncle Mer about your science fair" we headed upstairs, where we could hear Ali singing softly.

"Who told you so, dilly dilly, who told you so?" she was rocking him in her arms "Twas my own heart, dilly dilly, that told me so" she lowered him back into the crib. When she saw us she pressed her finger to her lips, she gathered an empty feeding bottle and blanket.

"You've been up here for nearly half an hour" I mumbled, as she checked her watch

"Sorry, he needed a feed, he was restless, I didn't want to disturb him too much, I hope you don't mind."

"Mind? Of course not, you're amazing with him, if you ever want to trade one baby for another you're more than welcome to stop by on your own" she smirked

"Hey!" I protested causing both women to chuckle "We should head back down before Maddie comes looking for us and wakes the kid up."

"Maddison right?" I nodded

"So he does talk about us?" she tugged her into the main room "Kaleb, come meet Mer's wife"

"Wife? Since when's Rodney been married?" he questioned, entering the room "Hi."

"Hi, Alison McKay, as of 26 hours ago"

"I'm starting to think we should have visited, and then got married."

"Doesn't that mean you're my Auntie?" Maddie asked, hadn't even noticed she was there, she's worryingly like her mother already.

"I suppose it does." She crouched down to Maddie's level "I'm Alison, Nice to meet you Maddie"

"Are you a scientist too?" she nodded, causing Maddie to grin, "Can I show you my science project?"

"Of course you can" she grinned, before being dragged in the direction of a volcano.

"A volcano really?"

"It's all electronic, she wanted to play with circuitry this year. It uses lasers to start a chemical reaction to create smoke and magma."

"ahh." I suppose that's not too bad

"She's good with kids, you brought her as back up didn't you? last time it was John."

"Yeah…" she chuckled, pulling me into a hug "Let me go"

*Alison's POV*

I wound up getting into an active conversation with a kid about chemicals, volcanoes and electronics, and she seemed to be following and understanding, even quipping back with her own comments. A McKay through and through, I wonder if Rodney was like this as a kid. I glanced over to see him and Jeannie bickering. "Alison, how about we go out?"

"Now?" she nodded

"Mer and Kaleb are going to cook us dinner."

"We are?" Rodney grumbled

"Yes, Yes you are. You might want to grab your coat, it's chilly out" I nodded "I'm just going to grab Jordan." she disappeared upstairs

"Whatever she tells you, it's not true" he whispered

"The same way that anything Carson tells you is to be scrutinised under the sibling bias" I grinned interlocking my fingers with his "Don't worry, there's not much she could say that would make me change my mind about you"

"Not much?" he stressed,

"Well," I straddled his lap "She could tell me that you're in love with John, and are just marrying me to make him jealous. That might put a damper on my mood." I almost couldn't help chuckling, he looked like I'd just corrected his life's work by changing a multiplier by a factor of two. "I think you and John would make a lovely couple. But I don't like sharing" I gave him a quick reassuring kiss before grabbing my coat

"You're not funny" he grumbled, a smirk at odds with his scowl.

"You ready?" Jeannie asked. I nodded as we headed to the car, little Jordan still asleep in his car seat. "Sorry about dragging you out, but I know Mer wouldn't let me talk to you in the house"

"He's just worried you'll spill his most embarrassing secrets"

"More like he's worried about you… he watches you, like you'll disappear otherwise"

"After the… accident… he's been more protective of me. We're not good at expressing our feelings all the time, we often get lost in work, it's how he shows he cares"

"You sound like you really love him"

"I married him didn't I?" I chuckled

"True… What about Meredith do you love?"

"It's hard to explain. I mean I love his brain, the way he uses his hands to speak. The little puppy dog pout he does when someone works out the science before him. How he can out-eat the entire team, the way he tries to comfort me when I'm having nightmares… all the little things that make up Rodney. I don't think I could really pin it down, I'd be here all day, all week"

"I'm glad. I worry about him sometimes, some of the girls who used to take an interest him were just after his ideas, the money he could make from those ideas"

"I don't think he'd have much time for someone who couldn't challenge him, or come up with ideas of their own… I think that's why we fit so well together" I smiled, playing with the ring on my finger, even if we'd never gotten romantically involved, we were friends first. We pulled into the car park of a small shopping centre. She dug the pushchair out of the boot, while I picked up, the now awake and moderately confused, baby Jordan. "hello" I lightly rocked him as he held onto my finger, I wiggled my finger earning a toothless grin

"Do you want kids?" she asked "...Mer…"

"I know. I figured we'll have plenty of time to talk about that down the line. I'd love to have a family of my own, but I could never put him in that situation if he didn't want it. One of us may have to compromise, maybe he'll realise how cute and rewarding kids are" I pulled a face, causing him to chuckle "Maybe we'll get a dog. Only time will tell. Right now I'm just happy to be alive, waking up next to the person I love. Besides, we already have people to look after, and a dog, a Sheppard" I chuckled

"I'll tell John that the next time I see him" she smiled

"He behaves like a puppy, he'd look like one too if you gave him the ears" I wiggled my hands against my head

"I can see that" she stifled a giggle buckling Jordan into his pushchair "Wouldn't that mean Mer would be one of those old bloodhounds, the ones that sit on the porch and scowl at the others"

"That's not nice" I chuckled

"I'm his sister, I'm allowed"

"Touché" I smiled "Let's head inside before we freeze."

…

"Don't forget, you can come back any time." she hugged me "And don't forget to look after yourselves" she wrapped her arms round Rodney

"It's literally our job to look after the entire city" he grumbled "Ourselves included"

"Meredith" she warned

"Alright. You be careful too" she nodded, waving as we headed to the car. Driving away I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Almost seems too soon to be heading home"

"If we stay away much longer they might have burnt it to the ground, you know Sheppard can't resist touching things." he grumbled "But I know what you mean, we didn't have to stay with Jeannie all week, we could've gone anywhere"

"I know, but they looked so happy to see you. And I got to see some of your baby pictures" I grinned, glancing over to see he'd turned a nice shade of pink "You were so cute."

"I'll have to bribe Carson for your pictures." Now it was my turn to blush, maybe if I was quick I could have them burned in some mysterious fire?

"What're you thinking?"

"Just calculating a couple of ways I could start a fire in Scotland from here"

"You're not getting out of it that easily."

"Worth a try" I shrugged.

*Rodney's POV*

Stretching out, I quickly realised something was wrong, she wasn't here. I looked around the room, there was no sign of her, no note, her jacket was gone, so she'd probably had to go somewhere. "McKay… Rodney answer your com!" Sheppard's voice yelled down the device which was sat on the table, Alison's was still there…

"What happened? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is we're going off-world in half an hour, and since you're not in the mess, stuffing your face as per usual, means you probably slept in." I groaned "These late nights have to stop, at least the ones before a mission do"

"Not going to happen" I scoffed, last night was a particularly fun night.

"Just hurry up if you want to eat"

"I'm coming" I tugged on my gear heading to the mess, it was pretty empty for once, though even for Atlantis it's pretty early in the morning. I piled food on my tray before joining the rest of the team at the table they were huddled round.

"Finally awake are you?" John smirked while I started eating.

"Have any of you seen Alison? I haven't been able to get hold of her"

"I saw her this morning, she looked busy." Teyla responded, well that's something, at least she wasn't kidnapped, though it's unlike her not to leave a note "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah." at least I think so "I just wanted to check something with her" She nodded, somewhat satisfied with my answer. Sometimes I think she can tell what's bothering you, without having to ask, she has that all-knowing aura. I turned my attention to my breakfast, I had to eat otherwise we'd wind up with a repeat of last month's mission, which got me in more trouble once we'd gotten back, so food first, worry later.

…

"This is typical" I cursed, shivering as I forced myself to pace around the small ice cavern, "Just one more circle round McKay, we've got to check that we didn't miss anything, McKay. It'll only be a few minutes McKay. What do you do? Get us stuck in a block of ice!" I growled

"Calm down, Ronon will be back through the gate by now. They'll be getting him something to get us out, then he'll be back here in no time"

"Not before we freeze to death, or run out of air, or something comes back to its trap and eats us!"

"We'll be fine, McKay. Bet you wish Ali was here" he smirked

"Yes, she's much better company, and we'd probably have worked a way out by now."

"I meant to keep you warm." he rolled his eyes,

"Of course" I plopped down beside him "Hold my hand"

"What?"

"Hold my hands, preferably before they freeze and I lose fingers" he awkwardly clasped his hands around mine, and the heat immediately radiated from my ring.

"Why are your hands so warm? Teyla come here" she knelt in the space between us, placing her hands over his.

"My hands were freezing, but your gene acts reacts with the metal, generating heat" He separated his hands for a moment, before resuming his previous position, a puzzled look on his face

"Rodney… Why're you wearing a wedding ring?"

"Ahh."

"A wedding ring?" Teyla questioned

"On Earth we exchange rings when we get married, we wear them on our left ring finger."

"I see. Then I must offer you and Alison my congratulations. I was unaware of your custom"

"Alison?"

"Yes, they have been wearing matching rings for almost two months now."

"Two months?" he repeated, annoyance lacing his words "And you didn't tell us?"

"We were going to. We decided that Carson should be the first to know, but the idiot said something, and they had that big fight. Then there was that epidemic of Andorian shingles, Alison caught that, along with half of Atlantis. After that it just didn't cross our minds, we went back to normal."

"Normal?"

"Yes normal. We live together, work together, it's just normal."

"Does Elizabeth know?"

"We told her after we got back, so that our paperwork was up to date. Then we were assigned new quarters, then all hell broke loose. So sorry if I didn't take the time to point out our personal developments!" we were interrupted by the wall melting, a hole quickly forming. Ronon stuck his head through.

"You guys ok?"

"Peachy" I growled, getting out of there as quickly as possible.

"Rodney." John sighed, falling in step with me, damn his long legs "I'm sorry alright, I just wasn't expecting it. I thought you'd have told me."

"I was going to, when I was stressing about Ali being sick. But then you had to come down with that Alien flu too." I grumbled "You know Ali and I don't talk about-"

"I know. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"So, you eloped? Before or after you went to see Jeannie?"

"Before"

"I'm sure that went well"

"Oh the two of them got along really well. Scary actually" I dialled the gate address "Think she really liked her though, and Ali was amazing with Maddie and Jordan." I smiled, heading through the gate my eyes automatically found her among the others, she looked worried.

"Rodney!" she threw her arms around me "You're ok"

"I'm fine, a bit cold, but fine" I held her close, she was so warm.

"Ronon told us you were trapped under ice. I thought melting it through infrared would be better than burning it, in case the area was enclosed…" her grip tightened slightly.

"It worked well." I pressed my lips to her forehead, she was very warm.

"McKay" I looked over to John "No, the other one." Alison looked up, "Congratulations"

"Didn't we tell you?" she furrowed her brow, tilting her head to the side.

"Apparently we forgot."

"I was sure we told the team, even Carson… unless it was the fever?"

"Told us what? And you were babbling a lot when you were under the influence of that flu. You were tossing and turning. I almost sedated you to stop your nonsensical rambling." Carson added, still out of the loop.

"Sorry, I really thought I'd told you that we'd gotten married."

"It's alright" The annoyance from earlier had dissipated, he'd probably put it down to the cold and enclosed spaces, but with Ali still upset he couldn't stay mad as he pulled her into a hug.

"You're married." Carson interrupted. "To Rodney?"

"Yes. I am married to Rodney McKay!" she exclaimed, turning bright red when she realised how loud she'd shouted. Ronon guffawed, patting me on the back, before picking up Ali who squeaked at the man handling. "Put me down." as soon as her feet touched the ground her face paled, she dashed to our excavation kit, before throwing up into one of the bags we use to collect artifacts.

"Ali!" We rushed to her,

"Don't" she mumbled "I'm fine." Ronon handed her a bottle of water, apologising.

"It's not your fault. I'm ok, really… You should go get checked out. I'm going to go lie down."

"You should come to the infirmary too" Carson added

"I agree."

"The world must be ending." she smirked "I went this morning… I'll explain later" I nodded, as she left the gate room.

"Rodney."

"I'll tell you if it's serious. Can we just go get this done?" he nodded.

…

Opening the door, Ali was curled up in bed, an old teddy bear pressed against her chest. She'd had it since she was two, and was embarrassed when I found it during the move, she found it comforting, something was wrong. I stripped down into my underclothes, slipping under the covers beside her, she flinched as my fingers rested on her stomach, she was warm to the touch, fever?

"Roddy."

"What's wrong?" She rolled over, tracing her fingers along my jaw "Ali."

"I'm sorry… I thought I, we'd, have more time. I didn't think I'd have to, I mean I knew it was something we'd probably talk about, but not so soon." She rambled "I promised Jeannie I wouldn't put you in this position." her grip tightened "I wasn't sure, at first I thought that the flu was resurfacing, it felt like that, so I just worked through it. The nausea got worse, so I went to the infirmary this morning, she ran some tests… said I was" she looked conflicted, "I should've taken more precautions, now I don't know what to do" she grumbled "it's not fair on you"

"What's not fair? You're not being very specific. Very unscientific of you"

"I'm… pregnant" she flinched like she was expecting someone to yell at her, but I felt every fibre of my being relax, she wasn't sick.

"You're, just pregnant" she wasn't dying.

"Just pregnant? You hate kids. I was worried you" she buried her face into my chest

"I never said I hated kids. I just can't deal with kids. I don't have a paternal bone in my body… is that why you're upset because you don't think I'd be a good dad?" she shook her head

"I thought you'd hate me… you'd want me to get rid of it… I didn't know if I could. I know I told Jeannie if you didn't want children I'd be ok not having kids, but the thought of losing it when it's already growing inside of me… That scared me more than I thought it would."

"I saw the way you were with Jordan and Maddie. I knew you wanted kids." I trailed my fingers along her back "I just…" was I ready to be a dad? I don't even know how to be a dad. "Well I suppose it's only natural we pass our genes onto the next generation." she burst into a fit of giggles. "What?" At least something got a smile out of her.

"It's only logical that we pass our genes on to the next generation" she mocked "Is that all this was?" she smirked, moving to straddle my waist, she was glowing "You're really not mad?"

"Worried, terrified, no clue what to do, but not mad. Just like always, you'll cover my shortcomings, and I'll just come up with a technical solution." she smiled, leaning down to kiss me "But you should probably tell the team. I don't want a repeat of today" she nodded,

"They can wait a few days." she tugged her shirt over her head "We can tell them in person, on christmas. I'd rather not repeat this morning either" she blushed, her loud declaration in the gate room weighing on her mind.

"You didn't see their faces, it was quite something." my fingers caressed her waist, the slight pressure earned a reaction, rolling her hips into mine "You know those fingers of yours got us in this position in the first place."

"I plan on letting them get us into much more trouble"

"Good."

*Alison's POV*

"What're you wearing?"

"I lost a bet." he crossed his arms, wanting more details. "Remember about 3 weeks ago, when I was with John trying to persuade Elizabeth to let us do a christmas dinner, slash, party? Well she agreed, obviously, but John and I decided to see who could convince Ronon to wear a santa suit… his damn puppy dog pout beat me to it!" I huffed adjusting my hat "That pout is a danger to all that is right and just in this world."

"And because you lost you have to wear a very revealing santa costume? Not that I'm complaining."

"The only reason he isn't black and blue is because he said you'd like it" I tugged at the short skirt "I indulged, since I'll be getting fat soon. I should start to show in about a month" I sighed looking at the mirror flattening down my dress.

"You look good." he wrapped his arms around me, resting his hands on my stomach, I don't even know if he realised how much more touchy-feely he's been the past few days, not that I'm complaining, it's comforting. "Do you want one of my coats to cover up?"

"Can I use the fleece?"

"That awful thing?"

"It's warm, comfy, smells like you. I like it."

"It's orange"

"I still like it. I kissed his cheek as he headed into his wardrobe, pulling out the fleece in question. "Thank you" Took off my santa hat, perching it on his head instead. "a trade"

"We should get going." I nodded, picking up a bag of presents, while Rodney grabbed the other two. "What've you been buying?"

"I've been getting little bits all year… You'll see." Entering the mess I couldn't help but grin at the transformation, "I love Christmas"

"Really? It's an over commercialised hijack of pagan faith"

"I know, but it brings people together." I smiled as we headed to the table where everyone else was sat, we were the last to arrive, the mess was pretty full, even though it was just the skeleton crew, with our coding and my connection to the city, we'd managed to get everyone the day off, which was a small Christmas miracle in itself. John wolf whistled as we approached

"Hey!" Rodney defended

"Looking lovely " he smirked

"Hilarious John" I glanced to Ronon in his santa suit, it was actually worth being dressed like this, to see that. "Merry christmas! I come bearing gifts" I dug out boxes handing them out to everyone

"Ali you didn't have to"

"I wanted to, you've all done so much for me, it was the least I could do. It's not much, just a little care package, your favourite things from Earth. Teyla, Ronon, I took some liberties with yours, I hope you like them"

"It is lovely thank you."

"Yours is under the bed" I whispered into Rodney's ear.

"Why?"

"Because there's enough coffee in that box to cause a riot."

"I love you" I chuckled "what?"

"I love you too." I slipped my hand in his as we took our seat at the table, between Carson and John, who was sporting a pair of antlers, while everyone else was wearing cracker hats.

"How're you feeling? Any better?" Carson asked. "Rodney wouldn't tell me a thing."

"Told you, she was ok."

"Ok people don't throw up."

"Fine" I sighed. "I was going to wait till after dinner. Least then I could run away… Guys... " The others at our table fell silent, making me feel more nervous "I know a couple of you were worried about me… and I, well decided to clear the air… I'm… I'm pregnant." There was a pause, a lag between the input and comprehension of information, the longest five seconds of my life.

"Congratulations" Teyla broke the silence.

"I'm going to be an uncle?" I nodded as he wrapped his arms round me, tears in his eyes

"Don't cry, you big lump"

"I'm no crying." he mumbled "You're going to be a brilliant mum. Now Rodney on the otherhand"

"I think he'll surprise us" I smiled, as I caught the smell of food "Oh that smells good. I'm starving"

"You're such a glutton."

"Eating for two" I retorted

"You are aware that you only need to increase your calorie intake by about 500."

"Shh. food."

"Let her enjoy herself, it's christmas" John grinned

"Exactly."

…

"Alison?" I yawned rolling over to see John finally awake

"Hey sleeping beauty. You took a hit to the head, how you feeling?"

"Like I was hit around the head oddly enough. How come you're in here?"

"You've some painkillers on the table. Carson threatened me. Said I had to get some sleep or else. I've been rushed off my feet the past month, and he noticed."

"Speaking of the reason you've been rushed off your feet, where is my darling goddaughter? Does Carson have her? Teyla?"

"She's with her daddy."

"Alone?" I nodded, standing to pull on Rodney's fleece, well my fleece, I'd stolen it.

"Up for an adventure?"

"I'll manage" he slipped to his feet, pocketing the pills that had been left for him

"You should be quiet" I added as we approached the labs, I peered round the corner and smiled at the sight, I pressed my finger to my lips as John just watched. Rodney was walking in front of the whiteboard, cradling a small bundle in his arms, he was rambling on about quantum mechanics, occasionally stopping to make a note on the board.

"...And that's how we're probably going to increase their range." he smiled as she squirmed in his arms, I can just picture the grin on her face

"She hangs on every word he says, she loves listening to him talk"

"Good thing talking's a talent of his."

"He's a good dad John."

"Ali. You're out of the infirmary. John too." he looked from us to Joanna, "Your mummy and uncle John have a tendency of breaking out of the infirmary, your uncle Carson isn't going to be happy" she giggled in his arms

"I was only having a nap." I leaned over to give her the small microbe plush that had been left in my pocket "Because someone, Rodney, ratted me out"

"That's where it was." he added as she snuggled into what was a cartoon version of Morbillivirus, Carson bought it as a joke at the last conference he'd attended, but she was taken with it. "Well I was worried, you've been sleeping less and less, and."

"hypocrite."

"See, back to normal already."

"Yeah yeah, she had her last feed?"

"Yeah, I was just waiting for her to drift off,"

"And physics is your version of a bedtime story?" John mused

"She likes it. Besides, it's educational"

"Shh. No arguing around the baby." I mocked as I took her from him, she had his nose, my eyes, and didn't seem to have either of our allergies, she's my beautiful, strong little girl. Placing a soft kiss on her forehead, I put her down in her moses basket and she whined at the loss of contact before snuggling into her blanket.

"let's call it a day." He kissed my cheek, wrapping his arms round my waist, resting his hands on my stomach "Carson wants to babysit tomorrow. So we can work on your dermal generator"

"That's what you're going to do on your day off?" John interrupted

"We've a city to run, between that and being parents we don't really have time for pet projects. Can't really leave her in her basket for too long, she's been round Uncle John too much, needs lots of attention." he rolled his eyes, smirking, he adores his god-daughter, dotes on her everytime he sees her, she's going to grow up spoiled. "We have to get the dermal regenerator right, you'd probably benefit the most from it."

"Gee thanks."

"Oh!" Rodney grinned "I finished the Ark!"

"The ark?"

"It's what he's calling the modifications to her basket." I picked her up, resting the basket on the lab desk. He pressed a small button on the side and it was surrounded by a shield.

"only registered biometrics can disable it. It has self contained life support and a beacon."

"Know something I don't McKay?"

"Just being cautious. It's my job to protect her." I picked up Joanna's basket, my biometrics disabling the shield

"Come on, let's go to bed." I tugged his arm "You should sleep off your headache"

"I intend to. Night Mckays" he chuckled, "I'm going to steal you from Carson tomorrow" he grinned wiggling Joannas toes causing her to giggle

"Maybe I should make a tracker bracelet for her instead. Least then we'd know who'd kidnapped her."

"Don't you mean babynapped?" John grinned, goofball.

"Maybe you should make tracker bracelets for everyone, we could tag them electronically, would be handy in the field."

"Would be worth looking into."

"Stop working." John grumbled "Isn't it your anniversary tomorrow?"

"That's why we've the day off." Rodney added, while John just rolled his eyes

"Don't worry kiddo, I'll make sure you have fun growing up."

"And I'll be warning her how dangerous men like you are" I stuck out my tongue

"You're the one married to the guy who blows a lot of things up."

"True." I pondered, trying to keep a straight face

"Hey!" Rodney protested causing John and I to burst out laughing.

"I'm kidding" I gave him a quick kiss, "I love you. Ekrixiphilia and all."

"You blow up a few things and nobody lets you forget it." He grumbled

"A few. The McKay name is associated with things blowing up. I'm pretty sure some of the marine's bet on which one of you is going to blow something up next."

"I think we should blow something up together." I responded

"Or get someone else to blow it up."

"What if we let Joanna play with the detonator? Keep the family legacy going?" I mocked

"Oh ha ha" John rolled his eyes, wincing at the movement "I'm going to bed, try not to blow anything up tonight"

"Cross my heart. Night John."

"Night" He disappeared down the hallway

"So you brought John here why?"

"To prove a point. That you're a really good dad, and that you're perfectly capable of looking after her without supervision." I smiled at her sleeping face, "She looks like you when she sleeps." I watched his face turn a shade of pink "Come on, let's follow her example." I linked my fingers with his and headed home.


End file.
